Amazon's tips on selling more IAPs

In-app purchases are the bread and butter for many mobile studios, and Amazon has shared a few tips on how to improve the number of in-game sales.

Speaking at the Italian Game Developers Summit today, developer evangelist Peter Heinrich said there are a number of ways devs can make their game and associated microtransactions more accessible, and therefore more appealing.

Looking at the top grossing apps on the Amazon App Store, Heinrich revealed that the most successful often told users exactly how to make in-game purchases.

“If you provide some sort of tutorial that walks people through the steps to purchasing something, you could boost your conversion rate by almost 150 per cent,” he said.

“Similarly, once they’ve made their purchase a lot of people are unsure how to apply it. If you get somebody to buy power-ups or tool or weapon, and then show them in a post-purchase tutorial how to use them in the game, you’ve immediately increased the chances of repeat purchase.”

Amazon claims apps that do this typically saw a 65% increase in repeat purchases. The company also saw improved revenues from games with stores that provide a very simple, “almost catalogue-like” interface. These were particularly beneficial for apps with higher-priced tiems.

“Don’t make people do the math themselves,” advised Heinrich. “If they’re getting a 10 per cent bonus by purchasing a slightly more expensive item, highlight it. Show them exactly what they’re getting right in the store.”

He added that if you keep your store fresh and continually add new items, the chance of enticing people to come back increases.